News & Media

'Big Tent Politics: The Liberal Party's long mastery of Canada's public life' by Roland K. Carty

Tuesday 26th January 2016

Professor Roland K. Carty (PPE, 1966) has had a book published on 'Big Tent Politics: The Liberal Party's long mastery of Canada's public life'.

The Liberal Party of Canada is one of the most successful parties in the democratic world. It dominated Canadian politics for a century, practicing an inclusive style of “big tent” politics that allowed it to fend off opponents on both the left and right. This book traces the record of the party over the twentieth century, revealing the cyclical character of its success and charting its capacity to respond to change. It also unwraps Liberal practices and organization to reveal the party’s distinctive “brokerage” approach to politics as well as a franchise-style structure that tied local grassroots supporters to the national leadership. These were key elements of the winning formula that drew Canadians of all political stripes to the Liberal Party over the years.Ken Carty provides a carefully considered analysis of how one party came to lead the nation’s public life. In a country riven by difference, the Liberals’ enduring political success was an extraordinary feat. But as Carty reflects, given the party’s latest travails, will it be able to reinvent itself, yet again, for the twenty-first century?